THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) on Tuesday decided to declare nine districts as drought-affected. They are Alappuzha, Kannur, Idukki, Kasargod, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur and Wayanad. The SDMA, at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is also its chairman, reviewed the current situation in the state and directed the sate relief commissioner to issue a formal declaration in this respect.
The indicators like scarcity of rain, shortage of surface water and ground water and intrusion of salt water were considered while declaring these districts as drought-affected. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, there was a marked fall in the rain received in these districts during the north-east monsoon from October to December 2017.
Earlier, the met department had warned that these districts would face acute shortage of water. Though Idukki is not facing a drought-like situation at the moment, the water sources are likely to dry up during the summer making it difficult for the people to get drinking water in these areas. Taking this possibility into consideration, the government and SDMA decided to declare Idukki as drought-affected.
